Works on Jewish law, homiletics, ethics, philosophy, mysticism, commentaries on the Bible and Talmud, and correspondence may be found among the rabbinic manuscripts in the collection. These are described in depth in Hebrew, with abridged descriptions in English, inOsef kitve-ha-yad ha-rabaniyim: Sifriyat Mendel Gottesman, Yeshivah-Universitah (Rabbinic Manuscripts: Mendel Gottesman Library, Yeshiva University), by Joseph Avivi. The lavishly illuminated Prague Bible of 1488, by the scribe Mattathias ben Jonah of Laun, Bohemia, a gift of Ludwig and Erica Jesselson, is the jewel of the collection. In addition to its beautiful illuminations, the manuscript is valuable for its version of Rashi's commentary, which differs from that found in printed editions.

The historical manuscripts are a window into life in a variety of Jewish communities, particularly in Central Europe and the United States. Correspondence,pinkasim, yizkorbooks, communal and organizational records, cemetery ledgers, circumcision lists, diaries, seals, and amulets, exemplify the breadth of material in the collection.

Descriptions of both the rabbinic and historical manuscripts are available in theYULIS catalog.

The digital version of this manuscript was produced under the auspices of the National Library of Israel's manuscript digitization program, through a cooperative agreement between Yeshiva University and the NLI.